Lost and Found
by Excalibent
Summary: Suspicious sightings around the Robotropolis junkyard have made Sally Acorn suspicious. Tonight, she heads out to discover who - or what - has been causing them, but she might not like what she finds.
1. Chapter 1

**It's story time. Sonic and co. (c) Sega, others (c) Archie.**

Robotropolis. The most sickening, polluted, crowded and overall just _unpleasant_ place on Mobius.

_'A fitting place for someone like Robotnik,'_ Sally thought to herself. Behind her, Antoine - General D'Coolette's untrained, cowardly but fiercely loyal son - and Rotor - the brainy, tech savvy walrus - were keeping on the lookout for any of Robotnik's SWATbots. As easily destroyed as they were, when one showed up, about fifty more came with it only seconds later. Soon, Antoine broke the silence.

"So, princess," he asked shakily, his eyes darting left and right, "What is it that you are hoping to see?"

"Yeah, what _are _you looking for?" asked Rotor, "Because you totally didn't tell us just before we got here."

"Yes, of course! So...what are we looking for?" asked Antoine, oblivious to Rotor's sarcasm.

"Well, to fill you in _again_, Antoine, it's because our scouts have been detecting unusual movements recently, and a few of them have actually almost caught an unknown robot spying on them. I'm hoping we can see him, and if he's _spying_ on us, I hope we can _catch _him."

"Ah, so we want to catch him and take his learning?"

"_Exactly! _One wrong move, and he's going down for sure! Also, I think you mean information."

"Ah, it is all making the sense now! However, I am still confused on one thing..."

"What is it, 'twan?"

"If he is a robot who has been spying on us, then why has Robotnik not been calling out his SWATbots to capture us?"

"I...well, actually, I'm not sure. Maybe he's-"

"Guys," muttered Rotor, "Don't move."

Very slowly, he pointed towards an old pile of wrecked cars, and on top of it was the motionless form of a robot. Silently, Sally pointed for Antoine to cover right and Rotor to cover left, while she went directly to the 'bot. Slowly, they ascended the first car. No troubles. On Antoine's second car up, the roof partially bent inwards, making a loud creak echo through the junkyard. When there was no sign that the robot had heard them, they continued climbing until they were just below the top.

"Alright, boys, on three..." Sally whispered, just loud enough for them to hear her. "One...two...THREE!"

"Agh! He has retrieved my head!"

"I've got him in a headlock!"

"*sigh*. Boys, it's not that dark. Just look," Sally said, irritated. This brought about the embarrassing realization that Rotor had caught Antoine, and Antoine had caught nothing.

"Oh...sorry, Ant'." Over on the next pile of cars, there was an uproarious mechanical laughter, but to the three of them, it was almost...familiar.

"Haha! Oh, no, stop! I think I'm gonna bust a gear...LAUGHING! Hahaha!"

"Are you MOCKING me, you metallic morning?"

"I think you mean _moron_, ya _moron_! HAHAHA!"

"HAH! Got you!" exclaimed Sally, making a long jump from the first pile to the second and grabbing the robot.

"AGH!" With a flare of rocket heels, the robot jerked up into the sky, the sudden movement causing Sally to lose her grip.

"He's getting away! Rotor-"

"Already on it, Sal!" he exclaimed, pulling out a metallic, segmented ball. "How do ya like THIS!"

"Wha- GRAGH!" exclaimed the robot, suddenly caught in an electric net. He crashed down onto the pile of cars, narrowly avoiding Antoine by inches.

"_Mon dieu.." _whispered the cowardly cadet, shaking in his boots.

"Sorry 'bout that, 'twan. You alright?"

"Y-yes, I believe s-so...I am j-just shaken." he managed.

"I hope this was worth an EMP net," said Sally.

"Well, we'll find out once we get out the flashlight and figure out who this 'bo-!"

_*bzrt* _"Oh, WOW! That was really _shocking,_ eh? Get it?" Rotor and Antoine remained silent, staring in shock at the robot. The robot glared at them, irritated.

"What? Haven't you ever seen a robian before?...actually, that wouldn't be surprising. Everyone else never talks to me, not even the big fat dude! I tried talking to him, but he just told his wimpy little servant to 'escort' me to the correction facility. 'Course, I didn't need to be corrected, so I ditched him."

Everyone else remained silent, including Sally, who had just managed to get to the top of the junk pile.

"_Hmph_. You guys are even worse than big ol' fatty. At least _he-_"

"Who am I?" asked Sally, leaning in towards the robot. "Do you remember me?"

"Ah, no. I kinda feel like we _might_ have met, but-"

"How about him?" she interrupted, pointing to Rotor- "Or him?" -and then Antoine.

"_Psh_, no. I've never even met 'em."

"Alright. Who is the king?" asked Sally, her voice wavering slightly.

"Well, that's easy! The king is- the king is...um..."

"Do you have an Uncle?" Now her voice was starting to crack.

"What? No. Plus, I was still trying to answer-"

"Any close friends?" The beginning of tears-

"None, now can you-"

"Caretakers?" Leaning even closer-

"Not that-"

"You don't remember _anything?_" Now she was within inches of him.

"NO! I DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING! Stop asking me so many _pointless _questions, la-" He was cut off when Sally lunged and hugged him around the neck, crying fiercely. Shocked, the robot looked to Antoine and Rotor, who looked away immediately.

"Oh, _Sonic!_" Sally cried, "What did he do to you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Sonic had absolutely no idea what happened. His central processors were working overtime to sort out everything _that name_ had triggered in his memory. There were so many faces, so many places, none of them that he'd recalled before that name. He was alone, not having moved since the girl had hugged him. She had left with her companions after a hushed discussion he'd been unable to hear, but he could tell that she was still upset about it.

It worried him, but the reason was still as obscure as everything else at the moment.

He dejectedly let himself fall onto his side, wondering just what he was supposed to do. Every moment, he felt his hope fading - something he didn't even know he had. The future was becoming as dark and polluted as the city around him, and he felt more alone than he had in months. There was nothing left for him. Every bit of memory that popped up, every fractional piece that fell into place, it was all constructing a large, grim picture that he really didn't want to see.

"Sonic! Where are you, Sonny-boy!?" called out a panicked, elderly voice.

"Come out, Sonic! We just want to talk!" called another voice - it was the girl that had come by a few hours ago. He simply remained still, not really caring enough to move.

"Are we even sure he's still here? Perhaps he's left already. He never could sit still..." commented another voice, both elderly and female.

"Don't be like that, Rosie! I _know_ he's here somewhere, and if he's free of Robotnik's control, then I won't let him fall into it again!"

Three of the hundreds of blank faces filled in - Uncle Chuck. Princess Sally. Rosie. Suddenly, he hit a realization, and the pieces fell together.

_'Uncle Chuck, Sally, and Rosie all escaped to...somewhere, but I was one of the first to be captured. The fat man - Robotnik - had been listening to a report, when I was taken to the roboticizer, and they were the few he didn't capture. But...where did they go? On the tip of my tongue...'_

"Sonic!" Jolted out of his thoughts, the robot looked to the disturbance, whom he gladly recognized.

"Hello, Sally...correct?" he asked, slightly uncertain.

"You remember!" She turned away briefly and called to the other two, who were presumably still on the ground- "He remembers me!"

"And so much more. But it's been so long, I don't think I can-"

"It doesn't matter, Sonic. You can remember, and that's the most that I- the most that _we_- could possibly hope for. Come on- let's go home," she said eagerly, starting to climb down the pile. As much as he wanted to follow her, he just...

"Sally, I can't."

"W-what? What do you-" before she could finish, he did a quickly executed front flip off of the pile and taunted her from below.

"I can't _lose!_" Sally, despite herself, couldn't help but snort in mirth at the robotic hedgehog.

"Hey there, Sonny. How's it been?" asked someone from behind him.

"It's certainly been a while," said the other.

"Uncle Chuck! Rosie!" he turned around quickly and encompassed both in a big bear hug, almost crushing them with his strength.

"Heh! I've missed you too, Sonny!"

"Sonic! I can't believe it! Even as a robian, you still grew up," chuckled Rosie. Both of them had tears in their eyes, and if he could, Sonic thought he'd be on the verge of tears too.

"It's so great to see you two! Where'd you go? What happened? Where's everyone else?" he asked in rapid succession, finally letting them go.

"Hah! One question at a time, Sonny."

"We'll answer them all at home."

"Where's home?" asked Sonic, excited.

"Knothole. I think that there's quite a few people who're eager to see you there, too."

* * *

"Wow! And they didn't even try to stop you?" asked Sonic, surprised.

"They were deactivated by Uncle Chuck's overloader and NICOLE-"

"Who?"

"Oh, right! NICOLE is my computer. I found her in the crash site of a satellite of some kind. More on that later, though. So, NICOLE-"

"And here we are!" said Uncle Chuck, once again interrupting Sally's story. "What do you think, Sonic?" he asked. Sonic remained silent, not understanding what his uncle was talking about.

"...where is it?"

"Oh, sorry! I think you might be caught in the disruption field."

"The _what?_"

"Ah, just hold still for a minute," he said, "Your visual processors can't see anything but the forest unless I do a quick optical revamp." Sonic was uncomfortable with someone doing an 'optical revamp' on him- or any revamp involving his insides, for that matter- but then again, this was his Uncle.

Someone he could trust.

"...aaand there we go! Now take a look."

"...wow. It's really grown, hasn't it?" asked Sonic, almost overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of a village. There were bridges across the trees that stood up five stories tall, and the ground homes were all arranged in a large clearing covered by the criss-cross patterns of the tree branches. There was a small water mill on the river in the distance, and one of the larger huts - the one they were now going towards - had an 'FF' symbol imprinted on the side. He felt both excited and nervous as he followed his Uncle and Sally, but was held back by Rosie.

"Sonic," she said very seriously, "Don't worry about a thing. These are your friends - given time, you'll find them closer than family. It will take some doing, but don't worry. Everything will be alright." A strange sense of ease washed over him, and the woodchuck's words lifted an invisible weight off of his shoulders.

"Thanks, Rosie. I...I needed that."

"Of course, Sonic. Now that we're calm, let's go inside." As she followed Sonic inside, she thought to herself,

_'He's grown to what he should look like at his age- well, as a robian- but he still has a lot of _catching up_ to do.'_

* * *

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me..._please_?"

"Tails, I cannot be revealing sensitive infomercials to ze left and ze right-"

"_Information,_ Antoine. Besides, the mission went even better than expected," Uncle Chuck said as he strode over to his desk.

"Really, Uncle Chuck?" A nod from Uncle Chuck- "Can you tell me _now_, then?"

"Well-"

"Don't worry, Antoine. He'll come in shortly."

"What? Was he not with you?"

"He was, but Rosie held him back, I noticed," said Sally. "By the way, Uncle Chuck, have you got the batteries reconnected?"

"I was just about done before we went out. Why it's so hard to replace batteries on this darn thing, I'll never-"

"Hello. My name is Sonic the Hedgehog." Internally- _'IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT! What kind of introduction is that!? I think it's even worse than 'Hey, I've been a robian this whole time, nice to see you.'!'_

"S-Sonic? Y-you're a-"

"Robian, yes. But don't worry, 'cause I'm still Sonic the Hedgehog!"


End file.
